Latch keeper



Jan. 5,- 1943. R. L. SAYLES 2,307,545

LATCH KEEPER Original' Filed'Feb. s, 1941 grime/WM v Patented Jan. 5, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LATCH KEEPER Robert L. Sayles, -Meriden, Kans.

Original application February 3, 1941, Serial No.

377,232. Divided and this application January 31, 1942, Serial No. 429,054

2 Claims. (Cl. 292-340) This invention relates to a keeper being divisional subject matter of my U. S. Letters Patent, granted June 23, 1942, and numbered 2,287,710.

The primary object of this invention is the provision of a keeper which will permit a latch of a closure, such as a gate, door or the like to restrain the opening of the closure until said latch is manually actuated and to permit the latching element of the latch to freely assume positions coactive with the keeper in securing the closure on the latter moving into closing position from opposite directions without manual actuation of the latch or its latchin element.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a durable, and economically constructed keeper easily installed and adaptable to its mounting and the latch of the closure employed in conjunction therewith.

With these and other objects in view as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation illustrating a keeper constructed in accordance with the present invention and showing its association with a latch of a closure.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a top plan view illustrating the keeper.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 5 indicates a fragmentary portion of a closure, which in this instance is a gate mounted to swing in opposite directions on a vertical or perpendicular axis. The closure 5 has associated therewith a latch 6 forming the subject matter of the copending application heretofore identified and the latch element 1 thereof is operable manually through the manipulation of hand levers 8 from either side of the closure 5.

As shown in the oficial drawing the closure 5 is provided with a restraining post 9 on which'is mountable the keeper l forming the subject :from the keeper. Also the purpose of the keeper I0 is to permit closing of the closure without the actuation of the latch element manually,

that is, the keeper when engaged by the latchelement on the movement of the closure into closing position, automatically receives the latch element in such a way that the latch element cannot become free until manually actuated.

The keeper I0 consists primarily of journaled restraining elements II and a mounting bracket I2. The bracket I2 is of L shape providing a horizontal portion I3 and a dependin attaching portion I 4 provided with slots IE to receive screws or like fasteners l6 for adjustably securing the bracket on the post 9.

Opposite edges of the horizontal portion of the bracket I2 are bent or rolled to form journals l5 and stops [6 located at one end of the journals.

The restraining element ll includes normally depending portions I! and horizontal portions l8 arranged at right angles thereto and rotatably received by the journals l5 and angularly disposed extensions I9 normally resting upon the top face of the horizontal portion of the bracket and in opposed relation. The restraining elements are preferably constructed of cylindrical stock and the portions l1 thereof are preferably formed by bending the stock back upon itself to provide rigidity and Wearing quality to the portions l1. The extensions I9 are free to swing upwardly for a limited distance which will permit the portions I! to swing inwardly and upwardly with respect to each other so that the latch ele ment 1 may enter a position between the depending portions ll of the restraining elements when the closure is moved int closing position from opposite directions. The limiting of the upward swinging movement of the extensions I9 by the stops I 6' is for the purpose of preventing the portions I! from swinging upwardly beyond the top face of the portion I3 of the bracket. Also, the purpose of the extensions I9 is to prevent the depending portions H from swinging away from each other. Consequently with the latch element therebetween, the closure will be prevented from swinging into open position in either direction ferred embodiment of my invention it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. In a latch keeper, a substantially L shaped bracket including vertical and horizontal portions and said vertical portion having slots to receive fasteners for the mounting of said bracket, journals on the horizontal portion of the bracket, restraining elements received by said journals and including spaced normally depending portions, extensions normally engageable with the horizontal portion to prevent the swinging of the depending portions each in one direction, and stops on the horizontal portion of the bracket to be engaged by the extensions to limit the swinging movement of each depending portion in an opposite direction.

2. In a latch keeper, a bracket including a horizontal portion and a vertical attaching portion having fastener-receiving slots, said horizontal portion having opposite edges thereof shaped to form journals and stops at one end of said journals, and restraining elements rotatably mounted in said journals and including right angularly disposed end portions, one end portion of each restraining element normally assuming a depending position in advance of the free end edge of the horizontal portion of the bracket and the other end portion normally lying flatly against the top face of the horizontal portion and movable to engage one of the stops to limit the upward swinging movement of the normally depending portions of the restraining elements past the horizontal portion of said bracket.

ROBERT L. SAYLES. 

